Looking Old, but Feeling Young

Last Sunday as I was doing my hair I noticed something shiny and white. I was in serious denial and figured it was lint or something. After getting over the initial shock, I looked closer to see my first, not one, but TWO white hairs. I felt so OLD! I had to call Shaun to the bathroom just to verify that I wasn't losing my eyesight as well. He confirmed it. So along with the new wrinkles I've noticed next to my eyes, I have the white hairs to go with them. I am so sad that at 29 I am starting show signs of aging. Oh well.

What a day, and night...

Monday started off normal, but not later. Shaun had the day off and was helping with the kids while I was still trying to shake off this flu I've been having for over a week. We decided to do some errands at Ft. Benning and get Shaun some new sandals. We got home about 6:00, and I was feeling really crummy. Isabel had also been throwing tantrums all day. I laid down to recoup for a little bit, when Shaun came in to tell me that Isabel had told him that she wanted to lay down and as she did she projected vomit all over herself and the bed. He cleaned her off and put her next to me. I myself was feeling nauseated and having hide myself in the bathroom as well. That's when we came to the conclusion that the mac & cheese that Izzy and I had Sunday must have gotten contaminated from sitting out too long. We suspected Food Poisoning. So after throwing up continuously Shaun wrapped us all up and hauled us to the emergency room. They ended up putting an IV in both Izzy and I. Isabel was so brave and did really well. Ian was a riot. He was going nonstop playing and making the cutest noises. Poor Shaun was exhausted. Finally, after the third IV they let us go home at about 2:30 in the morning. We won't know for sure what was going on until I bring a sample back to the lab. We're okay, still sore and hurting, but recuperating nicely.

I love Sundays after church, when we all just relax and be together as a family. The video is just a classic example of what our Sundays are like. There is no sound because the mic on the camera is broken, but as you can see you have Ian sitting all snuggled up with Shaun and Izzy being her silly self, with both of them watching Shaun play a video game, all while I cook the Sunday Spaghetti dinner. It makes me feel all warm and peaceful inside seeing my family together, and really blessed to have them as my own. I just love them so much!

Time for Something Different

As I update myself on other people's blogs, I realize that a lot of you will post ones that have no pictures and just a few paragraphs describing an event or a thought. I really would like to do that more, something that's different and hopefully inspiring to read.
Okay, here's the thing, my life mostly composes around my two kids. So, where do I find the time for some personal reflection? Not very often. Once the kids are in bed Shaun and I sit down for some couple time, watching a movie, or playing a game together on the Xbox. Then, if I don't get to bed right away I'll suffer for it the next day with a headache when the kids are up and need me roaring to go.
I would love to go back to school and relearn all that my little brain has forgotten over the years. Lately my brain feels like mush, I feel like I have a brain of a teenager, like, for real!
Any suggestions on what would be a good course of action on the path to enlightenment? I know that someday I would like to go back to work when the kids are older. I'd like to do something that has the exact same hours and holidays as the kids would have. Something in the Education department, maybe. My dream would be to become a librarian, but we all know how impossible that is nowadays with the way the world is becoming more computerized and less book wise. I heard the librarian and the Physical education departments are one of the first to go if the school is tight on funds. That would be my other dream is to be a PT teacher. Weird I know, unrealistic I know. So that's why I thought of the possibility of being a Speech pathologist. They are in high demand, and I have the years of background experience to relate to the kids.
What are everyone else's thoughts?

Tattoo'd Swine

I am totally putting tattoos on our next dog so his legacy can live on when I frame his hide.

Isabel's Gym Coach

This is Isabel's gymnastic coach. Seriously, the guy is almost a spitting image of James McAvoy with the hot body of a gymnast. I am also not the only one who thinks he is cute. On the way home from her class today I asked Izzy if she liked her coach, just to make sure she was happy.

Her response, "Yes. He is really handsome!"

She said it with such a cute expression on her face, it made me realize how much she has grown up. It could also explain why she does everything he tells her to do, when in the pass she has always been known to do her own thing just like her father.

Washington Trip

I love visiting Washington. I had the fabulous opportunity, courtesy of my Mom, to visit Washington for nearly a month. All the things I wanted to do there I got to do, like Ocean Shores, Seattle, and just hanging out with family. An added bonus was my brother Jacob, and his family coming up for a week as well. Isabel had an absolute blast hanging out with her cousins. She played nonstop every single day! Bedtime had never been easier. She started asking me if it was bedtime yet, she was so tired from playing so hard. I was torn between letting her play to her heart content or holding her back for a bit, especially when she was getting dark circles under her eyes.

Now I don't have all the pictures that I would like to have, for example when I was in Utah for a few weeks, and when I visited the Elton's. My camera finger kept forgetting to take pictures during those times. So what I do have here are just a few of the many other photos that I managed to take during my trip.

Can't be in Washington without enjoying the rain, right?
One of Izzy's cousin Hailey, who she played with, nonstop.

We went to Titlow Beach for a day. It was super hot! Really unusual for Washington. Ian loved the salty taste of the rocks so much, I couldn't keep them out of his mouth.
Grandma Martha loved helping the grand kids dig up the little cute crabs.
We had a BBQ at my sister Sarah's house. This is Emma and Tucker.
I think every single one of Izzy's cousins where like BFF to her.
Isn't Ethan (Sarah's boy) just adorable?

Of course we all got to try out Sarah and Joel's Wii Rockband game. I didn't think I would like it 'cause I wasn't to excited about Guitar Hero (sorry Eric), but I really liked the jammin and feeling like I was in a band.
ROCK ON!
Grandma Martha had a bathtub that was fabulous to take a bath in. Just huge!
Ian's 1st birthday was August 6th, so of course we celebrated with all the family.
We actually combined Ian and Ethan's birthday together since they are only a week apart from each other. I thought it would be so cute to coordinate their outfits, with matching cups, hats, all that fun stuff. I have to say they where so adorable!!




Okay, Mom and I saw these hats and just about died! They where so CUTE! We had to get them, though years from now they will probably think to themselves, "What was Mom and Grandma thinking?"

Ever since our stay in El Paso I just don't feel right doing a birthday party without a pinata. Love them. Sorry, I just do, I mean who doesn't like gathering up lots of candy after the pinata breaks. Oh, and the kids loved it too.
The fabulous trio.
You can't visit Seattle without checking out the Seattle Space Center. Here we are at the Children's museum.

Another gorgeous hot day in Washington. We had to take advantage of it and have a beautiful picnic out by the fountain.

Then it was off to the Dinosaur and Science Center.

Towards the end of the day we relaxed on a ferry ride and then finished off with dinner at Ivar's and the Ole Curiosity Shop.

I loved my trip to Ocean Shores. It was misty, windy and freezing cold! It warmed up after an hour or so. Izzy refused to get in the water. It was way to cold for my little girl who has been in the hot desert for most her life. Ian was another story. He could not get enough of the sand. Every minute I turned around he would grab a handful and shove it in his mouth. I would tell him not to do that and he would just grin, and laugh at me. Poor baby had a poopy diaper the next day and it was mostly sand, his little bum was so red.


Amy, my sister-in-law was chasing her little boy who was running toward me cause he was so cold and sandy.

Izzy got a little bored after a while so I dug out some car seats for her and gave her a "wheel" so she and Emma could pretend to drive. They were in that thing forever. So that's all. I had many more fun and fabulous memories of my trip but not the pictures. But the ones I do have sure help bring back a lot of the great times I had with my family. Thank you all for hanging out with me. It was a blast.